Colin McNickle At Large

Of fracking & groundwater; of Pirates & paying bills

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Yet another scholarly study should help put to rest the ecocratic article of faith that hydraulic fracturing — employed to release natural gas and oil from shale rock — contaminates ground water.

 
In a three-year study of 112 drinking wells in Northwestern West Virginia, researchers from Penn State, Ohio State, Stanford, the French Geological Survey and Duke, which led the examination, fracking was found not to have contaminated ground water.

 
But the study did find that accidental spills of fracking wastewater might pose a threat to surface water in the region, reports Matt Vespa, writing at Townhall.com.

 
The peer-reviewed study was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, a European Journal.

 
“Based on consistent evidence from comprehensive testing, we found no indication of groundwater contamination over the three-year course of our study,” said Duke researcher Avner Vengosh.

 
“However, we did find that spill water associated with fracked wells and their wastewater has an impact on the quality of streams in areas of intense shale gas development.”

 
Vespa says 20 wells were sampled before drilling or fracking began in the region, which provided a baseline for later comparisons.

 
It’s not the first study to disprove that fracking itself, somehow by rote, contaminates groundwater. But this study should go a long way in continuing to debunk an anti-fracking narrative that continues to have traction among many environmentalists.

 
No business likes to be considered a deadbeat in paying its bills. And though the term might be a little strong given the analysis, the Pittsburgh Pirates should be embarrassed nonetheless.

 
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the venerable National League franchise was among the bottom third in paying suppliers within the agreed terms in the first quarter of 2017.

 
The Pirates take 31 days “beyond terms” to pay its suppliers, found the assessment comes from Creditsafe, “a global business intelligence firm” based in Allentown, Pa.
“The study looked at the overall creditworthiness of all 30 (Major League Baseball (MLB) team,” the newspaper said, “as well as how quickly each paid their bills in the first quarter of 2017.”

 
While the Baltimore Orioles ranked at the top of Creditsafe’s list for financial stability and had a perfect credit score for paying its bills on time, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were the slowest to pay bills from suppliers, “with an average payment being 52 days beyond agreed terms and a credit score that rates their creditworthiness as a very high risk.”

 
That said, most MLB teams pay their suppliers within terms, the analysis found.
As Creditsafe CEO Matthew Debbage told The Inquirer:

 
“Days beyond terms (DBT) is a commonly used business credit term that indicates how long a business has taken to pay its suppliers beyond the agreed payment terms.”
Most interestingly, Debbage said DBT “is often cited as the most predictive data item when assessing a company’s ability to stay in business,” Debbage said.

 
Do tell.

 
Now, no one is saying that the Pirates are ready to go belly up – unless the Pirates aren’t telling the public something, that is. But being laggards in paying suppliers (and being near the bottom of a list among your peers) certainly shouldn’t be considered any kind of best business practice.

 
And it certainly does not endear yourself to your suppliers.

 
Colin McNickle is a senior fellow and media specialist at the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy (cmcnickle@alleghenyinsitute.org).

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Colin McNickle
Colin McNickle

Colin received his B.G.S. from Ohio University. The 40-year journalism veteran joined the Institute in October 2016. That followed a 22-year career with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 18 as director of editorial pages for Trib Total Media. Prior that, Colin had a long and varied career in media — from radio, newspapers and magazines, to United Press International and The Associated Press.

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